In a twist worthy of M. Night Shyamalan, Old beats three franchise cogs to win the weekend.
The box office was supposed to be a three-way race this weekend, between defending champ Space Jam: A New Legacy, newcomer Snake Eyes, and veteran Black Widow. Instead, it was the starless, unheralded fourth entry, Old, which proved to be the surprise weekend winner.
The thriller, starring Gael García Bernal as one of a number of tourists who find themselves on a beach where they start aging extremely rapidly, opened to $16.9 million, almost recouping the production's $18 million cost in three days. This is the first weekend won by a non-franchise title since Wrath of Man in early May. Indeed, this summer has been utterly dominated by franchises, with the only previous two originals opening on over a thousand screens since Memorial Day, In the Heights and Zola, both largely flopping. Old provides hope that not every film will have to come in pre-sold, which, with several prominent originals coming out in the next few weeks, will probably lessen the concern of studios.
Back in 2009, Paramount released G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, hoping that another Hasbro-produced toy line that peaked in the 80s would follow the footsteps of Transformers. Instead, the film struggled, making less than half of what Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen had made earlier that summer. A follow-up, G.I. Joe: Retaliation in 2011 grossed even less. After that, the franchise fell dormant until this weekend, when Snake Eyes, an origin story for arguably the most popular Joe character opened, starring Henry Golding, who had made his film debut in a Malaysian film the year Rise of Cobra came out. However, hopes that the soft reboot would interest moviegoers were dashed as the film only opened to $13.4 million. While no IP truly dies these days, it might be a good long while before we see another G.I. Joe film.
In third, Black Widow, which just two weeks ago grossed $80 million, barely grossed a tenth of that this weekend, taking in $11.6 million. It has yet to double its opening weekend numbers, as it is up to $154.8 million. It should still pass both A Quiet Place Part 2 and F9 in the coming weeks to become the highest-grosser of the year, but at this point, $200 million seems out of reach.
After opening better than expected last week to finish first, Space Jam: A New Legacy utterly collapsed in its second weekend, sliding to $9.6 million, almost a 70% drop. Its ten-day total stands at $51.4 million, and $100 million now seems out of reach. In a summer where nearly every new #1 movie has dropped by over 50% the next weekend, this is still extremely bad.
The aforementioned F9 passed A Quiet Place 2 during the course of the week to become the new top film of 2021, though the film did so while fading fast. The film took in $4.8 million for a total of $163.5 million.
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions also fell hard from its opening, grossing $3.5 million for a ten-day total of $16.2 million, still below what the first one took in its first weekend. The film was cheap, so it should still probably earn a profit.
Universal sequels Boss Baby: Family Business and The Forever Purge continue to be joined at the hip, as they took in $2.9 million and $2.4 million, respectively. Grosses for both are now at $50.3 million and $40.4 million. While Space Jam will be the highest-grossing PG-rated movie of the year for the time being, Boss Baby is likely to pass Raya and the Last Dragon to become the highest-grossing fully animated film of the year, at least until the next Hotel Transylvania arrives in October.
A Quiet Place Part II slipped to second for the year during the week, but is still wrapping up a most impressive box office run, taking in $1.2 million for a gross of $157.5 million. It should wrap up north of $160 million.
The documentary Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain wrapped up the top ten, with less than a million. Its ten-day stands at $3.8 million. Bombing in 11th is Joe Bell, starring Mark Wahlberg as the titular character. Despite a nearly 1,100-screen release, it failed to crack the million dollar mark.
Three new films open this weekend, and in a twist, they all see dead people are all originals, or at least as original as movies based on theme park rides, ancient legends, and true stories can be. Almost certain to win the weekend going away is Jungle Cruise, starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt as the captain and passenger, respectively, on a boat heading down the Amazon in search of a magical MacGuffin. The film has been getting surprisingly good reviews, and should open at least as well as Space Jam did last weekend. Likely battling it out with Old for second will be The Green Knight, an adaption of a 14th century poem based on the King Arthur myth, which stars Dev Patel and has gotten even better reviews, and Stillwater, based loosely on the Amanda Knox case, in which Matt Damon plays an Oklahoma redneck who goes to France to help his incarcerated daughter (Abigail Breslin). This is director Tom McCarthy's first theatrical film since Spotlight in 2015. Could Stillwater rise to the top? Could The Green Knight be in the black for the weekend? Will Jungle Cruise cruise into the top spot? Or will Old be young again? We'll find out next week.
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